Firstly, I have checked ATS for threads on this through the search function as well as manually going through different thread topics to see if it was
posted and didn't find anything.

That said, I was sick to my stomach when I heard this on the news today and was disgusted by another brutality on animals humans are to be ashamed
of...especially when we care about the beauty of nature and all its wild life.

(CNN) -- An online petition to save a healthy young giraffe from death has failed, despite thousands of signatures from animal lovers.

Copenhagen Zoo said it euthanized the male, named Marius, on Sunday because of a duty to avoid inbreeding.

After an autopsy, "Marius" was dismembered in front of a zoo audience that included children, and fed to the zoo's lions.
Despite online uproar over the move and reports of last-minute attempts to save the animal, the zoo in the Danish capital said it had no place for
Marius in its giraffe herd.

Zoo puts down healthy giraffe

CNN anchor Jonathan Mann asked Holst if it would have been possible to sterilize Marius or move him to another zoo to avoid killing him.

"If we just sterilize him, he will take up space for more genetically valuable giraffes," Holst answered.
Did the children watching cry? Mann asked.

Just the opposite, Holst said. The crowd was "very enthusiastic" and "the kids asked good questions."

Fed to the lions

Marius was killed by a bolt gun, not a lethal injection, which would contaminate the meat.

The giraffe's impending death had sparked outrage online, with more than 27,000 people signing a "Save Marius" petition, appealing for a last-minute
change of heart.

"The zoo has raised him so it is their responsibility to find him a home," author Maria Evans wrote on the petition site.
Copenhagen Zoo said that due to a massive debate on its Facebook page, it had published a Q&A about the decision on its website.

"It is not possible to transfer the giraffe to another zoo as it will cause inbreeding," it said.

Several zoos volunteered to take Marius in.

The UK's Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which says it has a state-of-the-art giraffe house and the capacity for an extra male, was among several places
which put in offers to take him.
............

- Before the giraffe was killed, an online petition to save it had received more than 20,000 signatures.

- Stenbaek Bro said Copenhagen Zoo turned down an offer from a private individual who wanted to buy Marius for 500,000 euros ($680,000). Stenbaek Bro
said a significant part of EAZA membership is that the zoos don’t own the animals themselves, but govern them, and therefore can’t sell them to
anyone outside the organization that don’t follow the same set of rules.

-“It is no secret that animals are killed when there is no longer space, or if the animals don’t have genes that are interesting enough,” the
organization said in a statement. “The only way to stop this is to not visit zoos.”

So if you have noticed I put some of the article sentences in different colors to uncover some of the bulls*** that the zoo spokesperson is telling
the media.

Noticed that the zoo said they "euthanized" the giraffe before the bolt gun? And then later it was discovered it wasn't euthanized so that the meat
wasn't contaminated?

That was the first thing that really stirred me inside...is how the zoo LIED to the public...heck, I have CNN running in the background and they are
saying there too that it was euthanized as well...how incredible is this?

Honestly, there were people against this...there were organizations and other people interested in taking in the giraffe. And what does the zoo do?
Puts up a big middle finger to everyone and does its own thing.

I condemn the zoo on this and I don't care if it is in their policy or not. Want to rid of a giraffe? How about trying to set it free in the wild and
let it fend for itself rather than have a controlled killing of it. I mean it is a domesticated animal. Trusted human beings like no other...only to
be brutally slaughtered for its innocence.

That is why I don't go to zoos. I don't believe in their practices and encagement of innocent animals. I love seeing the real deal in the wild. I
will view HD videos online or on tv to see the nature.

I want to know how you feel ATS members....this is the saddest thing I have heard in a while...

By the way, there are a lot more images and videos of this online. I will not show these here as they are way too graphic. Feel free to google it
yourself. But if you have a sensitive stomach or mind, don't observe them. I watched a little...and had to stop. *covers eyes*

The only problem I really have with this, is that it was done in front of children. Even then... it's the circle of life. Our children are usually on
this earth for a fair amount of time these days before they even realize where the food they eat comes from. It was not always that way. It used to be
that they knew by the time they were walking that someone was killing an animal so they could eat. I wouldn't be surprised if some preteens were still
not aware of the "animals" they eat.

In that vein, other animals have to eat as well. I can't watch some of the stuff on Nat Geo because it is sad to me. I KNOW it has to be done but my
heart still gets a wee bit heavy when I see the antelope taken down by a pride of lions. It's ridiculous to feel that way of course. It is the way
things are meant to be.

I DO NOT like zoos and this is just one reason. I always think the animals look sad in a way because they are not in their right habitat. They can not
roam free. People are in charge of what they eat, when they eat, when they play, etc.

It is sad really only because we/they had to see it when we usually do not. So while I do think it's sad on one level, it is logically what would have
occurred in the wild at some other point.

And meanwhile nobody sheds a tear for the thousands of chickens that die each year to entertain visitors to the crocodile exhibits. People don't care
about the chickens, they just wanna see the croc jump.

People only seem to care about the cute animals, the tasmanian blob fish is endangered, but it's ugly as sin so no one cares. But everyone wants to
keep the Pandas, even though the are too dim witted and lazy to mate.

I won't scroll down to see other replies. I saw a glimps of a pic. So I won't participate in this thread to have to look at the pic or any other
pics or graphic details.

It's unbearable and breaks my heart. The giraffe had no business being there in the first place, it belongs in the jungle where it came from and
they say it's in the way?

If there was one wish I had left in my lifetime , it would be that zoos are abolished. There's so much hi tech. These days, they could have virtual
zoos , 3D theatre screens to engage spectators for educational purposes. This way the animals don't suffer a life sentence to incarceration and
voyeurusm.

I'm actually still surprised it's still allowed. It's so wrong.
Try to imagine if this was you or a family member , snatched away.
For what? So we can look at them? Yeah they look miserable. Poor little darlings

No one here that eats meat of any kind has any room to make any noises of complaint.

The conditions many animals used for human consumption must tolerate are deplorable at best.

This giraffe lived, and lived well during its short life, and, even had quite the nobel death and use in death.
It's death served not only educational purposes, but ...
Who gets to get eaten by lions?
Now, that's certainly a way to go out.

Complaints about getting killed in front of children?
Take your concerns up with the parents that TOOK their children to the spectacle.
Take your concern up with all the children that live all over the planet on farms.
Further, how do you feel about other people telling you how you should raise your children?

Of course animals have to eat, but this belongs in their own environment , where they have to work for their capture .
This was deliberate and used in their show. Entertainment. Human or animal it's still barbaric.
Anyone who can stand by watching that has to have a sick mind.

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